


Willow and Tara's Fabulously Fun Foray to the Farnival

by just_the_worst



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F, First Dates, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-01
Packaged: 2019-02-09 03:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12879192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_the_worst/pseuds/just_the_worst
Summary: When a farm-themed carnival comes to UC Sunnydale, Willow decides to take Tara. Could this be A DATE?!May contain: puns, anxiety and farm animals.





	Willow and Tara's Fabulously Fun Foray to the Farnival

_How can she make me feel like this?_

Willow couldn’t help asking herself this question as she made her way back to Stevenson.

It was a weightless sort of thing, nestling warm in her chest.

Something about Tara just felt so… reassuring.

The room was dark and empty as she entered it, as it often was, nowadays.

That was how she’d begun to think of it: “the room” as opposed to “her room” or “her and Buffy’s room”.

She was going to have to find something she and Tara could do together, aside from spellcasting.

What if Tara thought she only liked the doing magic part and not the getting to see Tara’s adorable smile part?

_Wait, adorable?_

_Well, obviously, ya big dummy._

Willow felt certain at that moment that Tara’s smile was so cute it could probably thwart dozens of evil plans. Creatures of darkness would take one look, then scamper away, unable to stand such a vision of cuteness.

_Hm. What could we do? There’s movies, but that involves a lot of not talking. We could do the dinner thing, but what if she got the wrong idea?_

_The wrong idea about what?_

_Well, you know… that this is a date-type thing…_

_Are you sure you don’t want it to be a date-type thing?_

_Yes! I love Oz…_

_But you are willing to admit you have a crush on Tara?_

_Well… only in the sense that being around her makes me really happy, and she is really cute and really smart and really pretty and really sweet and really thoughtful…_

_Okay, fine, I have a crush on Tara. Happy?_

Willow’s inner turmoil was interrupted by the rustling sound of the door opening.

Willow felt herself jump about a foot in the air.

“Woah, Will, you’re on edge today” Buffy remarked, looking vaguely concerned.

“Oh well! You know, the coffee thing that I’ve been drinking to help me prepare for exams” Willow chuckled nervously.

“Coffee does always make you jittery…”

“Oh, what’s that you’re holding?” Willow gestured towards a flier that Buffy had apparently grabbed, hoping the change in subject would deflect any further suspicion.

“Well… I know you’re already preparing for exams, but I was thinking maybe we could go to this thing. It might be a little _corny_ though”

“Corny?”

“It looks like they’re running this ‘farnival’ thing tomorrow” At Willow’s look of confusion Buffy continued:  “Like a combination of ‘farm’ and ‘carnival’. Looks like there’ll be a petting zoo and a Ferris wheel and unhealthy food and tons of other stuff! Might be a fun little distraction. Wanna check it out?”

“Yeah! Unless… do you think there’d be frogs?”

“Well since frogs aren’t really an essential part of farms _or_ carnivals. I think you should be okay. Besides, no frog is going to mess with you while I’m around!”

“Okay, yeah! I’m in!”

“Looks like it starts at 11, so we could get up, have some breakfast and then check it out”

“Sounds like a plan!”

“Good! Should be a hoot and a half… even if I don’t think there’s going to be owls there either”

“Wanna start getting ready for bed?”

“You bet. All this initiative stuff is tiring. Bruising demons isn’t too hard, but not bruising men’s egos...”

“Impossibly difficult?”

“You bet”

* * *

 

Willow and Buffy were awoken early the next morning by the shrill ringing of the telephone.

“Muguuuuuhhhh” they groaned in unison.

For a moment the room was silent, then the terrible ringing began anew.

“I’ll get it” muttered Buffy, with the enthusiasm of a person receiving a root canal.

“Hello?”

“Huh? What? Slow down…”

“Five heads? And they all breathe fire?”

“He killed someone? And stole their car? That’s weird”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there”

“Love you too! But not U2. They’re just okay”

Buffy hung up the phone, shaking her head slightly.

“Duty calls?” asked Willow, annoyance seeping into her voice.

If Buffy noticed Willow’s antagonism she didn’t react to it.

“Yeah. This five headed dragon killed a man and stole his car”

“That’s… weird…”

“I know, that’s what I said! What’s even weirder is that he’s somehow been implicated with insurance fraud? How would that even work?”

“Beats me”

“They want me to help chase this guy, but it seems like he’s got at least a couple hours on us. I dunno if I’m going to be able to make it to this farnival thing”

“Oh, um… that’s… okay. Good luck catching this dragon-guy”

With a final smile and a rapid change of clothes Buffy was gone.

_Well that’s just typical. Sidekick gets kicked to the side…again_

_Whatever, I didn’t even want to go to that thing anyway._

Willow took the flier in her hands.

_A petting zoo? With tiny baby bunnies? How could I say no to that…?_

_I could take Tara_.

Willow felt herself swallow nervously.

_Why am I nervous? The worst she can do is say no… What if she thinks I’m stupid for asking? What if she thinks I’m really annoying for bothering her? What if she hates me because this is a stupid thing that I’m asking her to go to?_

Willow shook her head.

_She won’t hate you or think you’re a bother. Just pick up the phone and call her_.

Willow took a deep breath, sat down on her bed and dialed Tara’s number, long since memorized.

_What if she’s still asleep you dolt?_

The phone was picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Hey! I didn’t wake you did I? Oh, it’s Willow by the way, if you didn’t already know”

“No, no, I was already awake. Sometimes I like to watch the sunrise, so I’ve been up for a while”

“That’s not too early for you?”

“I find it reassuring sometimes. Especially when…” Tara’s voice trailed off.

“Especially when what?”

“O-oh, it’s n-nothing”

“Aw jeez, I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable. That’s 100% not why I called”

“Oh, no, it’s okay, it’s not your fault. What’s up? Is there some big evil?”

“Well, there is this five-headed fire-breathing dragon accused of insurance fraud, but he’s not why I called either”

“Insurance fraud?”

“Yeah, Buffy and the Initiative are going after him, but no, I don’t know how a five-headed dragon could commit insurance fraud”

“Maybe he tried to get insurance money on a building he burned down? You know, because of the fire breath?”

“Who knows? Anyway, um, it looks like there’s this thing going on today that might be kind of fun, but it’s okay if you don’t want to go, or if you’re busy or if you don’t want to hang out, or…”

“Willow! I’d love to hang out”

“O-oh okay!”

“Why don’t you swing by my room and tell me about it?”

“Sounds like a plan! Just let me just do the whole de-stink thing. I’ll be over in about an hour?”

“Looking forward to it!”

Willow hung up the phone, a large goofy smile on her face.

* * *

 

Tara could feel her heart pounding when she heard the knock on her door, almost precisely sixty minutes after Willow’s call.

_It’s just Willow. There’s nothing to be nervous about. Don’t be silly_.

Tara opened the door to a beaming Willow.

“Hey!”

“Okay, so I brought the flier for this thing that I’m thinking of, take a look”

The flier had a picture of a farmer wearing a clown costume. The background was a garish orange, with bright green lettering announcing:

**FARNIVAL!!!!**

There was smaller lettering in a different font that was a slightly different, but still atrocious, shade of green:

For one day only, enjoy the delights of the farm and of the carnival in one convenient location!

Pet bouncing baby bunnies!

Feast on scrumptious savoury snacks!

Ride in our fabulously fun Ferris wheel!

In the bottom in disproportionately large pink letters read:

** Be there at the main square or be square! 11 AM- 5PM **

_This graphic design is stunningly bad. Points for alliteration though._

“So… what do you think?” Willow looked up at Tara expectantly.

“The event sounds like fun, but they made some um… _interesting_ design choices for this poster”

“You know, I hadn’t really noticed before, but it does look pretty bad”

“Looks like we’ve still got some time before the thing starts. Wanna get some breakfast?”

“Yes, I would love to break my fast with you! But I’m going to have to hold off on fasting my break… and we’ll pretend that made sense”. Willow blushed, apparently embarrassed.

Tara couldn’t help but chuckle at Willow’s bizarre wordplay.

“Of course it made sense! Fasting during breaks is the worst! That’s when all the good snacks get eaten”

“Pancake house sound okay?”

“I’ve actually never been”

“WHAT????” Willow bellowed, incredulous. She continued:

“Let me sing you a song. It’s about the Pancake House:

_There is a place in Sunnydale_

_They call the Pancake House_

_It’s been the ruin of many a poor drunk-college-student (we’ll-pretend-like-this-meter-works)_

_And God, I know I’m one (but-not-actually-because-I-don’t-do-the-whole-drinking-thing-after-Buffy turned-into-a-cavewoman)_ ”

“Well, I’m sold. That was a solid performance”

_How is it even possible for one person to be so cute?_

“Yes! My powers of persuasion are at an all-time high!”

“Just be sure you use your powers for good” Tara said, with an accompanying overdramatic finger-wag.

“Don’t worry, I will”

“Will you will for your will to willingly create a sense of goodwill at the Goodwill and will therefore act like a good Will?”

Willow smiled widely, and quickly replied. “Absolutely, but no guarantees about this taking place at the Goodwill”

“I can accept that”

“Ready to roll?”

“Like a d20”

“Huh?” Willow blinked at her in confusion

_Of course Willow’s never used a d20 for anything, ya big dumb._

“Oh, you know, a 20-sided die? Dumb joke, I know”

Tara cleared her throat awkwardly

“Anyway, yeah, totally ready to go”

It was a brisk fall day. The sky was clear and blue, refreshing after what had felt like months of grey cloud coverage.

Willow pointed upwards

“Well that’s a nice change of pace”

“I’ll admit I kind of like the rain though”

“How come?”

“It just feels good to cozy up with some tea and a book and some blankets when it’s dreary out”

“What’s your favourite book?”

Tara blushed furiously.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing. You’ll think I’m stupid if I tell you”

“I promise that I won’t. What’s your favourite book?”

“…Harry Potter…” Tara muttered, eyes fixed to the pavement.

Willow grabbed Tara’s hands and looked at her, grinning.

“I love Harry Potter! Why would I think you’re stupid for liking Harry Potter?”

“Well, you know, it’s a kid’s book” Tara was still resolutely avoiding eye contact.

“Why would that matter? It’s not like reading needs to be this massive brain-intensive intellectual thing all the time. I hate people that are all like ‘ _oh, I’m so much smarter than you, I read Dickens’ entire body of work when I was 12’”_

“You know someone who read Dickens when they were 12?”

“Well, not really, but you know what I mean. I may or may not know someone who did a whole dystopia reading thing during the summer of 8th grade though”

“Anyway”, Willow continued “I don’t think it’s right to shame people for the things that they like, and I can promise I’m never going to do that to you”

“Thanks Will. That really means a lot” Tara finally looked up and smiled.

Without really thinking about it, Tara pulled Willow in for a hug.

_Oh no what have I done? What if she doesn’t like hugs? I really should have asked before I just hugged her…_

“You’re a great hugger” Willow muttered into her shoulder. A few seconds later they separated, though Willow still kept a hold of her hand.

The walked the short remainder of the way to the Pancake House in comfortable silence, taking in the sight of the fallen leaves around them. Their colours were still vibrant yellows, reds, and oranges as they blew around gently in the breeze. A few times Willow went out of her way to smush a particularly crunchy looking leaf.

“We have arrived at The House of Pancakes” Willow exclaimed, using her best dramatic announcer voice.

It didn’t really look like much. The inside looked like it hadn’t seen a renovation since 1970. The sign out front had a picture of a chicken wearing a bib. Was that an American flag on the chicken’s bib?

Seeing her look of skepticism Willow chimed in:

“I know it’s not really got the best décor, but it _does_ have the best breakfast food around. And surprisingly good burgers, if you’re into that kind of thing for breakfast”

They were seated rather quickly, as it was still too early for the bulk of the hungover students.

“What were you thinking of getting? The amount of choice is a little overwhelming”

“Well, I was looking at the chocolate chip pancakes. Who could say no?”

“That’s not too sweet for breakfast?”

“No such thing. One time Xander discovered baking and made like four triple chocolate cakes in one weekend. We had cake for breakfast for at least a week”

_They must have been so hyper. It was probably pretty cute._

Tara had a brief mental image of a younger Willow running around a library excitedly, waving her arms around like a bird for some reason. The thought made Tara smile gently.

“I think I’ll keep it simple. I’ll do the whole bacon-egg combo thing”

Their server then appeared.

“Hi! I’m Cora! What can I get for you girls today? Something to drink? Some coffee perhaps?” She smiled at them, surprisingly enthusiastic for 9:30 on a Saturday.

“Actually I think we’re ready to order” Willow said, smiling politely at their server.

“Okay! What’s it going to be?”

“I’d like to get the chocolate chip pancakes please”

“No problem! Would you like whipped cream on those?”

“You bet!”

“How about you?” The server turned to Tara.

Tara kept her eyes fixed on the table. Talking to strangers always made her kind of nervous, even when doing simple things like ordering food.

“C-could I please get the n-number two combo?”

“Okie doke! How would you like your eggs?”

“E-easy over please”

“White or brown toast?”

“Brown toast please…”

“Would either of you like something to drink? Some coffee maybe?”

“No thank-you!” replied Willow while Tara shook her head.

“Alright! I’ll bring those out for you faster than you can sneeze at! Unless you’ve got seasonal allergies, in which case you might sneeze first!” With a final smile Cora left.

“Gotta say I’m pretty excited about petting those baby bunnies”

“Yeah, I bet they’re going to be really fuzzy”

“Here’s a fact that’s fun! Anya actually hates bunnies”

“Really?”

“Yeah, last Halloween when we went to that weird haunted house thing Xander told her to dress up as something scary and she came in a bunny costume”

“Hm. Maybe something bad happened with bunnies? She’s been around a long time, so there’s been plenty of opportunity”

Willow looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Aw man, I’m not supposed to feel for Anya…”

“Why not?”

“Well, I mean, vengeance **demon**.  We do the whole demon killing thing? Plus she’s done a ton of bad stuff! She just _loves_ to talk about all the men she’s tortured all the time. It’s not like she even feels bad about it like Angel does”.

Tara felt her insides grow cold.

_She’s not going to want to be around you after your birthday. You’d do well to remember that, you disgusting creature_.

Tara did her best to plaster a smile onto her face.

_You can’t let her see how much this upset you. She wouldn’t understand_.

“Scooby Willow paging Tara! You okay?”

“Um, yeah. I’m f-fine. R-right as rain, as t-they say”

Willow continued to look at her concernedly, but didn’t press the issue.

Cora returned with their food, one awkward moment later.

“Over here we have the chocolate chip pancakes!” She set a massive tower of pancakes in front of Willow, whose eyes lit up immediately.

Cora somehow seemed to have picked up on the tension at the table, as she put on her best smile and said dramatically:

“Aaand in this corner we have THE ONE, THE ONLY, number two COOOMBOOO!”

Despite herself, Tara couldn’t help but smile.

“Enjoy your food! I’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes”

As Tara munched on a piece of bacon she started to feel a little bit better. She was hungrier than she’d thought.

“Hey, these pancakes are chock full of chocolatey goodness! Wanna try a bite?”

“Yeah, okay”

“I’ll make sure you get a bit of whipped cream too”

Willow appeared to painstakingly select a perfectly sized piece of her pancakes with a significant amount of whipped cream. She passed the fork to her and looked at her expectantly.

Tara was surprised to find that they’d used real whipped cream for the topping and what seemed to be semi-sweet chocolate chips. The pancakes themselves were light and fluffy. They really _were_ excellent.

“Wow, those are the best restaurant pancakes I’ve ever had. The real whipped cream is a nice touch”

“I’m guessing you know someone who makes even better pancakes?”

“Yeah, my family has this secret recipe and my mom and I used to make blueberry pancakes every Sunday”. Tara chose her words carefully, to avoid having to get into the whole dead mom mess. That was sure to be a downer.

“That sounds like a nice family thing. My family’s not so much into the whole gathering business. Too busy”

_This topic has the potential to go downhill fast. Think of something else!_

“That’s some um… scary looking wallpaper”

“Huh? Oh yeah, oh my gosh, I hadn’t really looked at it before but yikes”

The wallpaper in question was an off-white with tiny roses all over it. The roses were all an unhealthy looking orangish colour.

“It looks like my grandmother’s ugly chair upholstery vomited all over the wall” mused Willow.

“When you turn 80 do you think there’s some sort of dark creature-thing that forces you to have either bad wallpaper or bad furniture upholstery?”

“Considering this is Sunnydale? Probably”

The two girls munched on their breakfast in contented silence.

A few moments later Cora returned.

“Hey! Is everything tasting all right?”

“Absolutely!” Willow replied enthusiastically.

“Is there anything else I can get for you two?”

“Um, I think we’ll be ready for the bill pretty soon?”

“Okie doke, separate bills?”

Willow seemed to struggle for a moment then replied:

“Actually, one bill please?”

“Sure thing!”

Cora left, as jaunty as ever.

“You don’t mind me covering your breakfast do you?” Willow asked really quickly, looking slightly panicked.

“I mean, you don’t have to, but I don’t exactly mind…”

“Well, I mean, I am the one who convinced you to come here and what if you didn’t account for a breakfast out in your budget? What if your whole budget spirals out of control because I upset some delicate balance? What if…” Willow spoke quickly, fidgeting with the sleeve of her sweater.

Tara chose that moment to interject.

“I promise I can afford this breakfast Will. You’re not going to bring me financial ruin”

“You’re sure?” Willow looked up, her sweater fidgeting had ceased.

“Yes”

Willow seemed to think for a moment.

“Well, I think I’m going to cover it anyway”

Willow gave her a small smile and Tara felt her heart flutter.

“Okay?” Willow added

“Yeah” Tara said, smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed part one! 
> 
> I was originally planning on just posting it all in one go, but then this whole thing got really long (long for me at least- we're currently sitting at nearly 6000 words and I'm not nearly done yet), so I thought breaking it up might be appropriate. 
> 
> This was partially written because there is a criminally limited amount of Willow/Tara fluff on AO3.
> 
> A few fun facts (many of which you will probably not care about)!  
> 1\. The five-headed dragon is based on Hiram McDaniels from Welcome to Night Vale  
> 2\. Willow’s Pancake House song is based on The House of the Rising Sun  
> 3\. I really wanted to make the d20 joke, even though in my heart I knew it didn’t make sense for Tara to make a tabletop RPG joke. But then I came up with a new headcanon: what if Tara’s rebellious phase was her sneaking out to play D&D with a nerdy girlfriend.  
> 4\. The “farnival” was actually going to be an event that we were going to run at work. I got kicked off the program planning team and it never happened. I’m only slightly bitter.  
> 5\. I figure Tara probably read Harry Potter right around when her mum died (it came out in 1997), and I can imagine that the adventures of a lonesome orphan wizard (raised by terrible people) who got to go to a wizard school and feel accepted for the first time in his life would resonate really strongly. Plus I wanted to pick a book I’d actually read as her favourite.  
> 6\. Cora (the name of their server) is a popular breakfast chain in Canada (I told you this is stuff you wouldn’t care about).


End file.
